Gareth Taylor has reported injuries to three key players ahead of Manchester City’s derby against Manchester United this weekend.
city returned to action after last weekend’s winter hiatus with a comfortable fourth round FA Cup home win against Ipswich Town. Now they are preparing for a big one WSL meeting with local rivals united at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening.
Just one point currently separates the two teams in the standings as Taylor’s side sit third on 22, closely followed by arsenal and United on the 21st. Chelsea comfortably leads the way with 28 points.
City were dealt a significant blow to their title hopes before Christmas as they suffered their second league defeat of the season against Everton. The result was the culmination of a significant number of injuries, which saw at least four key players sidelined during that period.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s derby, Taylor confirmed that Khadija Shaw is closing in on a return to action, but the likes of Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood are still some way off.
“Alex and Lauren are in a good place,” he told the media at a news conference. “But we know that his return is not immediate.
“Bunny is a lot closer, though. It’s pretty imminent, but we’re just trying to make sure we hit some of the markers that the medical team needs to be happy with to be ready for this busy period that we’re going into .
“This weekend will be too early, but outside of that it’s getting closer to the next couple of games (being ready for).”
It will be a busy week for city as Sunday’s derby will be followed by another midweek meeting with United, this time in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. They face Aston Villa away in the WSL next weekend and are at home to Arsenal eight days later.
